This is why Danny Ainge is one of the best.

[manl_lui]

with Melo, Lee and Jordan Crawford off the bench.
We'll suck so bad

My favorite part of your post. But I agree, it is the logical thing to do. This is why I respect Danny. As much as you hate the deals, you have to admit, they sometimes pay off or ends up being great assets. Perk sucks at OKC and Green flourished here.

KG and PP - loved them, but they are at the end of their career and netted us 3 first rounders...

This GM isn't afraid to gamble and takes risks

[kingtutts]

All I gotta say is, Danny better be right.  If he doesn't get back to contention in the next 3 to 4 years this is a career defining and franchise altering move. 

[rondohondo]

All I gotta say is, Danny better be right.  If he doesn't get back to contention in the next 3 to 4 years this is a career defining and franchise altering move.

no it isn't pp and kg were gone after next season anyway.

We still wouldn't have had cap room when they left with terry,bass and lee on the books.

Now we have
2 picks in 2014(deepest draft since 2003)
2 picks in 2015
2 unprotected picks in 2016
the ability to change picks with brooklyn in 2017
2 unprotected picks in 2018

Nets will still be over the salary cap when pp and kg leave in 2 years. With aging Deron Williams and joe johnson eating up most their cap space. They will have no bench, and no draft picks to improve or make trades.

C's are sitting pretty

[Fred Roberts]

"Terrific" post. Spot on.

Jeff Green will have a year of being 'the guy' until Rondo returns. He'll avg 22 pts, 5 rbs, 3 ast something like that.

We all know what Rondo brings. We'll be bad next year but we have current and future assets that put us in great position.

Toss Fab Melo out there for 20 minutes a night and we'll lose lots of games no matter what. Kelly will get PT and develop a feel for the NBA. Avery can shoot without being afraid of the consequences. T-Will can be mentored by Gerald Wallace on how to properly channel his athleticism and terrible shooting into NBA production. Colton Iverson can deliver a lot of hard fouls and add some D.

The team can lose a ton of games and still work on fundamentals, stay positive and get better. I think Rondo will be okay. I think Jeff is still rising as a player. Brooklyn will CRUMBLE after 2 seasons and we're sitting on lotto picks galore. This does require patience but dialing it back again w/ dim prospects would have been worse.

[vinnie]

IF rondo gets off to a good start when he returns, trade him to assure 20-25 wins next year. By the time this team is good again, Rondo will be 31-32 years old, and with the wear and tear he puts on his body, not so sure we want him running the team by then.

This team is going to be so difficult to watch next year.

[rutzan]

Thank you, a post using logic on the whole situation, instead of raw emotion .

Tp

i disagree completely...especially under the groundrules of infallible logic...logic is not based on "gambling" or "great shots"...if you disagree...prove to me by the rules of logic that logic is based on "gambling" and "great shots"...call it what it is...it is a gamble...it is a risk...but don't say it's logical...everything is based on luck, supposition, ping pong balls and the great "what if"...call it an educated guess at best...but...don't call it logic...it fails all the rules of logic...

[celticinorlando]

I remember this team having 2 HIGH lottery picks and getting stuck at #3 and #6 missing out on one Tim Duncan. The picks are a crap shoot

Instead of getting Duncan and another franchise building guy..they took Billups (gave up on him quickly) and Ron Mercer (a can't miss guy coming in that did ZERO in the NBA).

So the picks are nice...boston just needs some luck hitting the right spot to get a game changer. Then they MUST develop the young players. No more letting them rot on the bench

This will either put the Cs back to the top or if the ping pong balls bounce poorly...this could become a long rebuild.

I personally don't see anyone on this team that can be the go to guy game in and out. I see no size whatsoever. I see nobody that can be a legit outside shooter...

[Yoki_IsTheName]

As the GM, his idea to compete for the future season is to make sure our team is not competitive this year, hope that the ping pong balls are lucky and land us game changing player.

All while, the GM install a mentality to our team that we are not good enough with players we have, so we'll ship them  for picks so we'll suck even more. And then we get our savior and win us a Championship in the next 4-5 years, after the core of the team is already past his prime.

Danny Ainge is indeed one of the best. I believe he's also a coward from shying away from the challenge of building a winning team without giving the chance of winning the title. Clearly his best idea is to tank rather than draft well from where we are, be smart in signing free agents with the cap room that we have, and flip the assets we already have for that player or draft position we are looking for.

I get the idea, if this works then he's right, we'll be contenders in the future, for long stretches of time.

But what if he doesnt, what if we don't get lucky in the draft? What if we can't flip those multiple picks for someone we are looking for? We will be the Sacramento Kings.

[rondoallaturca]

I still disagree. I find it unusual that you decide to name out probably the worst names we could target in Smith, Jefferson, and Varejao and use that as reasoning why we'd be stuck in mediocrity (which I agree is the worst position to be in the NBA).

Look at what the Pacers have. Hill/Stephenson(Granger)/George/West/Hibbert is their starting lineup. Say we trade Bass and Bradley for Gortat. Why couldn't something like Rondo/Lee/Green/Millsap/Gortat be just as good, or even better? The bench is important, too, but wouldn't Crawford/Sullinger/Olynyk as a backbone off the bench already be better than Indiana's bench mob of Mahinmi/Augustin/Hansbrough? Add in the fact that Rondo/Green/Millsap are all certified Heat killers.

Like I posted in another thread, neither retooling with Rondo/Green nor rebuilding and nuking the team will have any guarantees. Winning championships obviously can't be that easy. However, retooling around Rondo/Green has far less risks, and best of all, doesn't involve having to suck miserably for a few years. That's why I'm not a big fan of going into an absolute rebuild, since we're fortunate to have to young guys entering their primes on great contracts. Not many other rebuilding teams can say that.

[rutzan]

i've always liked DA...he is what he is...a gambler and a risk-taker...the question is...has he become too enamored with his self-image of being a gunslinger in the wild, wild west...when you take chances and win then you are a hero...when you take chances and lose then you are a goat...Danny is currently in both lines...time will tell and hold him accountable...just remember...all his moves are predicated on the foundation of the great "what if"...which is fundamentally and intrinsically a gamble and a risk...and with that come the just rewards...

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I still disagree. I find it unusual that you decide to name out probably the worst names we could target in Smith, Jefferson, and Varejao and use that as reasoning why we'd be stuck in mediocrity (which I agree is the worst position to be in the NBA).

Look at what the Pacers have. Hill/Stephenson(Granger)/George/West/Hibbert is their starting lineup. Say we trade Bass and Bradley for Gortat. Why couldn't something like Rondo/Lee/Green/Millsap/Gortat be just as good, or even better? The bench is important, too, but wouldn't Crawford/Sullinger/Olynyk as a backbone off the bench already be better than Indiana's bench mob of Mahinmi/Augustin/Hansbrough? Add in the fact that Rondo/Green/Millsap are all certified Heat killers.

Like I posted in another thread, neither retooling with Rondo/Green nor rebuilding and nuking the team will have any guarantees. Winning championships obviously can't be that easy. However, retooling around Rondo/Green has far less risks, and best of all, doesn't involve having to suck miserably for a few years. That's why I'm not a big fan of going into an absolute rebuild, since we're fortunate to have to young guys entering their primes on great contracts. Not many other rebuilding teams can say that.

TP right here.

Glad I'm not the only one here who thinks we can rebuild without sucking. Unfortunately, our GM does not trust his GM skills enough and his only solution is to suck and HOPE that we get lucky to get better.

[rutzan]

I still disagree. I find it unusual that you decide to name out probably the worst names we could target in Smith, Jefferson, and Varejao and use that as reasoning why we'd be stuck in mediocrity (which I agree is the worst position to be in the NBA).

Look at what the Pacers have. Hill/Stephenson(Granger)/George/West/Hibbert is their starting lineup. Say we trade Bass and Bradley for Gortat. Why couldn't something like Rondo/Lee/Green/Millsap/Gortat be just as good, or even better? The bench is important, too, but wouldn't Crawford/Sullinger/Olynyk as a backbone off the bench already be better than Indiana's bench mob of Mahinmi/Augustin/Hansbrough? Add in the fact that Rondo/Green/Millsap are all certified Heat killers.

Like I posted in another thread, neither retooling with Rondo/Green nor rebuilding and nuking the team will have any guarantees. Winning championships obviously can't be that easy. However, retooling around Rondo/Green has far less risks, and best of all, doesn't involve having to suck miserably for a few years. That's why I'm not a big fan of going into an absolute rebuild, since we're fortunate to have to young guys entering their primes on great contracts. Not many other rebuilding teams can say that.

TP right here.

Glad I'm not the only one here who thinks we can rebuild without sucking. Unfortunately, our GM does not trust his GM skills enough and his only solution is to suck and HOPE that we get lucky to get better.

thank you...we could have re-tooled with some minor tweaks...now...blowing it up is predicated on so many variables...luck, ping-pong balls...what i call the great "what if"...i guess many people are "all in" on blowing it up...remember...there is just as much downside as their upside... i think many people are sold on the idea that this a slam-dunk and a sure-fire way way to succeed...

[LooseCannon]

I remember this team having 2 HIGH lottery picks and getting stuck at #3 and #6 missing out on one Tim Duncan. The picks are a crap shoot

"Crap shoot" suggests random luck.  The lottery may be a bit of a crap shoot, but the actual picks involve some skill, even late picks.  There are few sure things, but a good drafter is capable of exceeding expectations over the long run, even if he misses here and there on specific picks.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I still disagree. I find it unusual that you decide to name out probably the worst names we could target in Smith, Jefferson, and Varejao and use that as reasoning why we'd be stuck in mediocrity (which I agree is the worst position to be in the NBA).

Look at what the Pacers have. Hill/Stephenson(Granger)/George/West/Hibbert is their starting lineup. Say we trade Bass and Bradley for Gortat. Why couldn't something like Rondo/Lee/Green/Millsap/Gortat be just as good, or even better? The bench is important, too, but wouldn't Crawford/Sullinger/Olynyk as a backbone off the bench already be better than Indiana's bench mob of Mahinmi/Augustin/Hansbrough? Add in the fact that Rondo/Green/Millsap are all certified Heat killers.

Like I posted in another thread, neither retooling with Rondo/Green nor rebuilding and nuking the team will have any guarantees. Winning championships obviously can't be that easy. However, retooling around Rondo/Green has far less risks, and best of all, doesn't involve having to suck miserably for a few years. That's why I'm not a big fan of going into an absolute rebuild, since we're fortunate to have to young guys entering their primes on great contracts. Not many other rebuilding teams can say that.

TP right here.

Glad I'm not the only one here who thinks we can rebuild without sucking. Unfortunately, our GM does not trust his GM skills enough and his only solution is to suck and HOPE that we get lucky to get better.

thank you...we could have re-tooled with some minor tweaks...now...blowing it up is predicated on so many variables...luck, ping-pong balls...what i call the great "what if"...i guess many people are "all in" on blowing it up...remember...there is just as much downside as their upside...

Can't blame them for being optimistic, because there is a game changer in that draft that we can acquire.

I just hate the fact that we have to tank to be competitive. RC Buford never had to resort to tanking, even now that Duncan and Ginobili might be on their way out. He drafted smart (Splitter, Joseph) in their position, made smart trades (Hill for Kawhi) and signed smart (Green, Neal, Diaw). Now even with Gino and Tim out, they can still compete in the Playoffs because they have cap room, drafting and signing smart and they don't have to break up a core that still works.

I believe that Danny's GM abilities is very good. I believe he can find gems in the draft that people miss, he's got good eye on talent. I believe he can pull trades that could land us a star and sign good FA (not his fault Terry and Lee we're underacheivers). But instead of trusting that GM skills, he opted into on purposely being bad and gamble for a chance to draft a game changer.

I hope he's right, because this is going to be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG rebuild if he's wrong.

[rutzan]

I remember this team having 2 HIGH lottery picks and getting stuck at #3 and #6 missing out on one Tim Duncan. The picks are a crap shoot

"Crap shoot" suggests random luck.  The lottery may be a bit of a crap shoot, but the actual picks involve some skill, even late picks.  There are few sure things, but a good drafter is capable of exceeding expectations over the long run, even if he misses here and there on specific picks.

the problem with this is that everyone is gunning for the 2014 draft...specifically...the top 5...even a top 5 can be bust...the list is too long to renumerate...even worse...what if we don't get a top 5 pick in 2014...is rondo playing next year...is rondo being traded...just to name a few...too many variables out there...it truly comes down to luck and ping-pong balls and percentages...i guess gamblers like to play the odds...from my experience...you come out on the short end more times than not by gambling...